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Getting to Grips with a US Cult Classic

JO




This was a tasting I was really looking forward to. Judging by its reputation, a vertical tasting of eight consecutive vintages of the Bryant Family Cabernet Sauvignon, one of the most sought-after, expensive and highly rated of all Californian wines, ought to contain several absolute classics. Even given my expectation that the style would tend towards the richer and riper Californian style, perhaps for the reason that Robert Parker jnr has contributed in no small degree towards the wine’s image and profile by rating each of the vintages 1993-1997 between 97 and 100, I was dead keen to take a look. After all, as I firmly believe, when California and cabernet get it right, the results are world-class.

Until September 2002, Don and Barbara Bryant’s ‘cult’ cabernet was made by highly rated American winemaker Helen Turley. Since that time the winemaking duties have been transferred to consultant winemaker Philippe Melka, while Bordeaux vintner Michel Rolland has also been hired as a consulting oenologist. Given that Turley commenced her duties in 1992, she was responsible for all of the wines in this tasting, from the 1993 to the 2000 vintage inclusive.

The spat between Turley and Don Bryant is a well-publicised issue that has no place in the analysis of this tasting. Of more importance, perhaps, is Turley’s well-known winemaking philosophy in which wild yeast ferments, extended pre-fermentation maceration and a complete absence of filtration play an essential part. This philosophy also lines up perfectly next to that of the world’s most influential wine critic.

So, with both eyes wide open and with little in the way of preconceived notion, I helped to stage a tasting of these wines with well-known Santa Barbera-based wine dealer Richard Torin, who brought the wines over to Singapore’s Ritz-Carlton Millenia Hotel for its 2004 New World of Wine and Food Festival.

Before moving to the tasting notes, some other facts about the wine might be of interest. Its production typically varies between 650 and 1,000 dozen. The 15-acre vineyard exists on Pritchard Hill, east of St. Helena, in the Napa Valley. The site was bought as a run-down vineyard that had previously produced some first-rate material for the Chappellet operation in the 1970s. Helen Turley’s salary for making the wine was US$250,000 per year. She and her husband John Wetlaufer have their own label, Marcassin, plus a vineyard on the Sonoma coast. Based in St Louis, Bryant is an absentee owner who heads a large insurance company. He has spent millions on the vineyard, recently replanting some of it, and about another US$9 million on an ultramodern gravity-flow winery designed by Turley and first used in 2002.

The prices quoted next to each note are genuine prices provided by Richard Torin.

Tasting Notes



Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1993



Full red with very faint brown tinges. A delicate floral perfume of sweet red and black berries backed by lightly herbal nuances of mint, meaty undertones and cedar/vanilla oak. Smooth and supple, the palate is elegant, tightly knit and focused. There’s plenty of length and a savoury finish, although the tannins become just a little blocky and green-edged. 18.4, 94, drink 2005-2013, US$500

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1994



Full red with very faint brown tinges. Ripe, concentrated aromas of cassis and dark plums intermesh with sweet, smoky vanilla oak, undertones of dark olives, chocolates and dried herbs, and an enticing perfume of violets. Very elegant despite its terrific, firm multi-layered structure and the concentration of its dark berry and plum flavours. Vibrant and juicy; but finishing with tightness and balance. 19.2, 97, drink 2014-2024, US$600

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1995



Fullish red with browning edges. Herbal, dusty and meaty notes of cedar and capsicum with a subdued and earthy expression of cassis-like fruit. Supple and elegant, it’s slightly sappy and hard-edged, drying and astringent, with a satisfactory but not generous weight of fruit. 17.4, 91, drink 2007-2015, US$650

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1996



Full red with paint purple tinges. Smoky, ground coffee aromas of vanilla oak, prunes, currants and blackberries precede a juicy, luscious palate of structure and concentration. Supported by powerful tannins, the fruit is however meaty and slightly dehydrated, lacking genuine freshness and brightness. Rather too overcooked for a higher score. 18.0, 93, drink 2004-2008, US$650

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1997



Very full red, garnet. Deep, dark aromas of plums, mulberries and dark cherries with a kernel-like aspect overlie earthy, chocolate-like scents of smoked bacon. Remarkably powerful, opulent and juicy, the palate drips with concentrated flavours of plums and prunes, supported by stylish dark chocolate oak and a heavily worked extract. Lacking the anticipated drive of vibrant fruit on the palate, it finishes slightly cooked and spirity. 18.6, 95, drink 2009-2017, US$750

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1998



Full red. Slightly sappy and herbal cooler year cabernet that compensates with a feminine charm what it might lack in customary fruit density. Its floral fragrance of crushed raspberries and cherry confiture is underpinned by sweet cedar/vanilla oak. Elegant and stylish, it’s framed by gravelly tannins before finishing fine-grained and dusty, with herbal undertones. 18.5, 94, drink 2006-2010+, US$450

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 1999



Full red with purple tinges. Vibrant aromas of briary dark fruits with cedar/vanilla oak and a meaty, funky background. It’s juicy up-front flavours of dark plums and cassis precede a palate that being initially smooth and creamy, then culminates in a firm, powerful grip of slightly raw and metallic tannins. 18.1, 93, drink 2011-2019, US$500

Bryant Family Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon 2000



Full red with purple edges. Slightly porty, meaty aromas of sweet licorice, spicy tea leaves and cooked black berry fruits are lifted by sweet caramel/vanilla oak. Deep, dark and opulent, the palate is steeped in concentrated small berry fruits, with undertones of tar and licorice. It’s polished and cedary, and framed by firm, but soft tannins. 18.2, 93, drink 2012-2020, US$400

Postscript



As I suggested, while I greatly looked forward to this tasting I had no preconceived ideas. And since I hadn’t much idea concerning the reputations of individual vintages, it’s been an interesting exercise to compare my scores and notes to those of Robert Parker jnr and The Wine Spectator. I make no apologies for referring to them in this article, since these two authorities are naturally significantly more familiar with wines of this nature. But as they often are, familiarity and expectation can be as much of an advantage as they are a disadvantage.

Vint JO RP WS



1993 94 97 92
1994 97 98 97
1995 91 99 95
1996 93 99 100
1997 95 100 99
1998 94 93 89
1999 93 95 97
2000 93 95 94

For a second release of this label, I was very impressed by the 1993 vintage. While neither I nor The Wine Spectator perceived the longevity anticipated by Parker – in my case because I would expect its green edges to become more apparent with time – there’s some pleasing elegance and perfume, as well as an absence of any level of over-ripeness.

When I tasted the 1994 wine, just the second in line, I thought I was in for the tasting of a lifetime. Even though a couple of wines were made in 1990 and 1991 which were later rejected, this remains an early effort of huge merit. Of all the wines, this offered the best balance between strength of genuinely ripe fruit, structure and alcohol. Unlike the vintages of 1996, 1997 and 2000 there’s not even a whiff of over-ripeness or portiness, and in my view it is by some margin the longest-living of these wines. The 2000 vintage provided the only other such occasion in which Parker’s, The Wine Spectator’s and my scores lined up so closely.

The hard edges, drying astringency and sappy, capsicum-like aspects of the 1995 wine make me begin to wonder whether or not the bottle was in tip-top condition. Both bottles opened, however, were identical. By far the least of the wines on the day, it’s a little hard to reconcile with the enthusiasm displayed by my American sources of reference, even thought I would expect their notes the most updated on their respective websites might be around four years of age.

I have absolutely no problem with big red wines, which I regularly enjoy drinking. Where I run foul of them, or perhaps vice-versa, is where I perceive issues of balance, harmony and longevity. For me the most overcooked wine of the group was the 1996, whose meaty, dehydrated fruit suggested a significant use of the ‘hang time’ so popular amongst many of the American viticultural community, and which is sadly becoming more evident in Australia. Given the wine’s overtly sweet, smoky coffee-like oak, I expect that it its youth this wine would have been dazzlingly concentrated and luscious, with enough fruit sweetness to obscure what I now highlight as its viticultural deficiencies. Like many of the South Australian reds from the exceptionally hot 2001 vintage, it’s now drying out from the back of the palate forwards, losing freshness and brightness as it does. In my view, wines like this really confirm my thoughts that wines carrying dehydrated or ‘dead grape’ influences, even at a relatively imperceptible level in their youth, are not destined for the long haul.

The only blot on the otherwise flawless landscape presented by the 1997 vintage was a smidge of cooked and spirity character that becomes noticeable at the finish. While 1996 was given a perfect 100 points by The Wine Spectator, this vintage scored the ultimate accolade from Robert Parker. I enjoy its richness, power and strength, its assertive extract and its multi-layered structure. However it’s not a perfect wine, and over the years I’d expect its slightly overcooked nuances to become more obvious. Of course, though, I’m being very finicky. That, however, is my job as I see it. I rate the wine very highly and am in no doubt whatsoever that it will give some very wealthy people a lot of pleasure. Great Bordeaux, it is not; but very good Napa it most certainly is.

It was a more difficult vintage, but 1998 produced for me the most charming and elegant of the Bryant Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignons. Delicate, perfumed and willowy, supported by gravelly tannins, it’s finely balanced and complex. Winemakers often rate the results of the most difficult vintages as their crowning achievements, and while I have no idea how Turley regards this wine, it earned my respect. The same cannot be said for The Wine Spectator, which scored it at a low water mark for this vineyard of 89 points, while Parker also checked in with a bottom-dwelling 93, his second-lowest Bryant rating other than a 91 for the 2001 vintage, which I have not tasted.

While the 1999 Bryant is rated extremely highly by The Wine Spectator for its muscular structure and its concentration of flavour, Parker instead likens its structure and longevity to premier cru Bordeaux. To me it’s a typically plush and forward warm-climate cabernet with a powerful, raw extract that just lacks a little polish at the finish. There’s a metallic aspect about its tannin that to me might have appreciated some selective fining. It is, however, one of the longer-term Bryants which might become more interesting so long as time treats it kindly.

As I said earlier, I have no problem with the notion that big can be beautiful, provided it’s big, but balanced. 2000 was a difficult vintage in California, but the Bryant wine is a very good effort, despite some slightly porty and meaty aspects. It’s round, ripe and juicy, a big modern Napa style based on vibrant sweet fruit, assertive oak and some pretty classy tannin. It won’t live for as long as the 1994, but should still have a significant cellar life ahead. Very competent winemaking indeed, even if the fruit was marginally overcooked.

If I dip back into my scores of out 20, in which I will continue to allocate my marks until I can get my head around the 100-point system I have recently adopted, three of the eight vintages tasted rate gold medal standard 18.5 or above, a healthy hit-rate in anyone’s language. Applying the same standards to these wines as I do in my guidebook on Australian wine, this would be just clinging onto a ‘2’ ranking. In terms of Australian cabernet sauvignon, this would put it on a par with the likes of Houghton’s Jack Mann, Giaconda, Moss Wood, Orlando’s Jacaranda Ridge or Rockford Basket Press.

I won’t buy into the pricing argument, since given the vineyard’s exceptional publicity and hence its status, plus its limited supply and the huge market on its doorstep, the Bryant Family Cabernet Sauvignon faces a very different set of marketing and pricing empiricals to any Australian cabernet yet made.

So, following this tasting, I’m interested and I’m nibbling the bait, but I’m not yet hooked. It’s always rather a flat feeling to complete a tasting of this nature convinced that its best wine was one of the oldest presented. I’m really more interested in watching the direction taken by future Bryant releases, since I’d argue that while there’s undoubted richness and power about the vineyard’s fruit, a clear pattern of style had yet to present itself in the vertical tasting. From the magnificently elegant 1994, which was probably regarded with little short of awe when it was first released, to the plumper, rounder 1997 and 2000 vintages, we’ve had significant departures in the overcooked 1996, the very un-Californian 1998 and the juicy, but somewhat less refined 1999.

Media coverage suggests that Philippe Melka tends to favour a more restrained and ‘austere’ expression of cabernet sauvignon, which could conceivably mean more wines like the 1994. If that’s the case, in my view there will be no stopping Bryant. However, the wines that presently sate the Californian ‘cult cabernet’ market are typically of the sumptuous, ripe and assertive kind, so while I might perhaps appreciate wines of more restraint than some of the recent Bryant vintages, many of the more influential opinion leaders in the US are less likely to. For better or worse, it will take a person of immense courage to ‘lighten off’ the Bryant imprint.

However, I realise that no matter what I think or write about the Bryant Family Vineyard and others like it, the juggernaut behind this cult brand will ensure that its wine could sell out many times over. Its status, its price and indeed its quality have already determined that it’s a wine that will continue to be worth watching.
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